Life After Lightspeed
by ChibiDawn23
Summary: A series of one-shots, missing scenes, extended scenes, etc. from my story "In a Heartbeat." Currently: Kelsey introduces Ryan to the brighter side of life.
1. Fire vs Law Softball Game

**Disclaimer** **: I don't own the characters you recognize, they belong to Saban.**

 **Author's Note:** **First in the "Life After Lightspeed" one shot series.**

* * *

"There's something about a man in uniform," Dana whispered to Kelsey as they sat under the sun at the Mariner Bay Softball Complex. The day would've been unbearably warm if it hadn't been for the breeze coming in off the mountains. Clouds loomed above the mountains, and they were praying it didn't rain. The two friends sat in the middle of a sea of red and yellow t-shirts. Dana wore a red bandanna to keep her hair out of her face, and Kelsey sported a neon yellow tanktop with MBFD painted on it in red letters.

The Fire vs Law softball game was one of the biggest fundraising events for both organizations, with 50% of the profits from tickets for the game and barbecue split evenly between the two organizations, and 50% went to the Family Fund, the fund set up for the families of police officers and firefighters who were killed in the line of duty, or officers/firefighters that were on medical leave due to an accident or mishap in the field.

Kelsey bumped Dana with her shoulder. "Speaking of a man in uniform...here they come." She and Dana were on their feet as Carter and the other 12 players on the Fire team came out onto the field. Dana recognized a couple of the guys on Ladder 4- Zach Anderson, Tyler Walsh, Lane Busby, and Anthony Smith from Engine 7. She also recognized some of the men her father knew from his time on the squad- John Olliver, and Keith Tyler. Dana spotted Carter easily. Her boyfriend towered head and shoulders over everyone else on the team, wearing number 13, sporting his yellow baseball cap with the fire shield on backwards, and a pair of blue sunglasses. As the Fire team took their spots on the third baseline, Carter looked up into the bleachers and spotted the two girls. He waved. Dana waved excitedly back.

"Howdy, ladies," Joel Rawlings said as he clambered over the people next to Kelsey and plopped himself in front of the girls. He was joined by Chad and Ryan. Ryan was wearing his Sky Cowboy hat he'd gotten from Joel for his birthday. "We miss anything yet?"

"Yeah, the toes of that lady right there, I think you stepped on everybody else," Kelsey said, pointing to a woman who looked slightly miffed at the boys. She mouthed 'sorry' to the woman, and looked at Joel. Joel tilted his hat so the lady couldn't look at him.

"Did Ryan give you his other ticket?" Dana asked, and Chad nodded. Ryan had gotten two tickets for the game from Chad for his birthday. "You made Joel pay for his. Good for you."

"Hey, now," Joel protested to his friends, but smiled to show it was all in good fun.

The National Anthem was sung, and Captain Lance Connelly from the Mariner Bay Police Department, Precinct 26, got the coin toss. They took the field as Fire got ready to bat. Dana counted. Carter was batting fourth, the cleanup spot.

Joel disappeared after the second batter, returning for Carter's turn at the plate with a box of popcorn. He avoided eye contact with the woman in the row next to Kelsey as he sat down again and popped the tab on the box. "Let's go, Grayson!" he yelled. Dana saw her boyfriend's shoulders twitch at the sound of his name. Then, he was focused. Anthony Smith was on second base and they had no outs.

He had an advantage being tall with a long wingspan. Chris Connelly, Lance's son, pitching for MBPD, sent a fast pitch on the outside corner of the strike zone, and Carter connected, sending it into right field above the first baseman's head. Then, he was off, sprinting for first base. He made it there easily as Anthony swung into third. His cheering section yelled wildly, turning him a nice shade of fire engine red.

"And that's the shortest amount of time it's taken him to get to first base," Ryan kidded his sister, poking her on the knee. Dana hit him in the shoulder.

Three batters later and Carter was stranded on third. Zach Anderson, a good friend of his, was up to bat now, and Fire had two outs. "Come on Zach!" Dana heard Carter yell from third base. She crossed her fingers. The count was full-three balls, two strikes. Chris Connelly threw one right across the center of the plate and Zach swung hard. It headed straight for the shortstop, who tried to get his glove low enough to scoop it up, and it sailed just under the tip of the glove. Carter took off in a dead run for home base and sailed across the plate.

2-0 in favor of MBFD. Carter walked back to the dugout and tipped his baseball cap to Dana before settling in. Chad wolf-whistled, and both turned bright red. Ryan gave Chad a high five.

A few innings later, the score was 3-2 in favor of Fire, and Fire was in the field. Carter stood on first base off Anthony Smith on the pitcher's mound. It was easy to see why Anthony was their pitcher. He had a really mean curveball, and Chad couldn't figure out how he wasn't just pitching a no-hitter. For all his martial arts background, he was pretty sure he didn't have the concentration or coordination to hit that curve. It was why he was a swimmer in high school instead of a baseball player. "This guy's pitch is crazy," he told Ryan. Ryan was studying the pitcher intently.

"No kidding," Ryan replied, as Anthony sent another into the catcher's glove for strike three, and the teams changed again.

At the top of the seventh, the score was tied 3-3, and Fire was up to bat. Joel had finished his box of popcorn and was now splitting a second with Chad and Ryan. Tyler Walsh was up to bat. Chad wanted to boo him, as this was the guy who'd tried hitting on Kelsey and Dana at a bar one night-in full view of their boyfriends. But as Tyler was on the same team with one of his best friends and the game was for charity, Chad bit his tongue and ate popcorn instead. At least he was more tactful than Ryan and Joel. Ryan had told Joel about that night at the pier bar, and Joel was trying to decide if it was worth getting in his plane to airmail a softball to hit Ty on the head from 3,000 feet. Ryan was trying to talk him out of it, saying it was much easier to bribe Chris Connelly on the Law team to hit him with a pitch instead.

"It's their last at-bat, boys," Kelsey said, overhearing the conversation and rolling her eyes. "Give it up."

He ended up striking out, and Ryan, Joel and Chad silently cheered. Up next was Carter's captain, John Olliver, and then they'd start at the top of the lineup. Olliver was almost twice as old as the other players on the team, save for Keith Tyler, who headed up the Arson squad. But you wouldn't know that the way he played-Olliver hit a high fly ball to center field and made it to first base before the ball hit the ground behind the center fielder.

Little Lane Busby was next. Lane was the rookie at Ladder 4, and he was just nineteen. He played right field, and Dana highly suspected it was because his glove wasn't very good. But he had a lot of enthusiasm and had been cheering on everybody on the team by name. Dana had been watching Carter, and it was obvious that her boyfriend was looking out for the younger man, and coaching him on. So when Lane hit a single and landed on first base just ahead of the the throw, Carter was cheering the loudest. She smiled.

Two batters later, John Olliver was on third, Lane was on second, and Anthony Smith was on first. Carter was up. There was only one out.

"Bases loaded! Come on Carter!" Chad yelled.

"Let's go Carter!" Kelsey yelled. Dana was biting her lip nervously.

Chris Connelly threw his first pitch. It was low and outside, and Carter let it sail past. Thunder rumbled, threatening to call the game. Joel watched John Olliver and Lance Connelly have a quick conversation at third base. _Come on, let them play. It's almost over anyway_. They were pointing to the sky and talking animatedly back and forth.

"Hey Dad!" Chris Connelly yelled, at the same time Carter called, "Can he just pitch it already?"

The fans in the stands broke out into a laugh.

Joel watched John shrug and return to standing on third. _Yes!_ Captain Connelly returned to the Law dugout and Carter zeroed in on Chris's next pitch, a quick fastball that was in the catcher's mitt before Carter could blink. Strike One. Carter looked out at Chris as the fans groaned. "Where was _that_ all game?" he yelled to the pitcher, and Chris just winked as the ball was returned to him.

The next ball hit the inside corner, and Carter took a step back for ball two.

"They're gonna drag this out," Chad whispered to Kelsey, and Kelsey nodded.

Chris's next pitch was a change-up that Carter swung at and missed. Strike two.

"They're gonna battle to a full count," Ryan sighed. Thunder rumbled again, as if adding to the tension.

The next pitch was about four inches from the outside of the plate, and Ryan was right, it was now a full count. "Come on Carter!" he yelled, and the other Lightspeed Rangers echoed the sentiment- except for Dana, who had her hands over her eyes.

Chris wound up. Carter's hands tensed on the bat.

There was a crack of lightning as the ball connected with the bat, and Carter took off like a bat out of hell for first base. He wasn't even watching when the ball sailed over the right field fence and into the parking lot.

" _Yeah!_ " Joel was on his feet. "Grand slam, baby, yeah!" The crowd cheered as the rain started to fall as Carter rounded the bases and was met by his entire team at home plate.

"Best baseball game _ever_!" Ryan crowed to Chad, who was being hugged mercilessly by Kelsey.

Carter glanced up into the stands to where Dana was standing, clapping excitedly for his team. He threaded his way through his teammates and easily hopped the chain link fence, coming up to join her in the stands. "Enjoy the game?" he asked her, rain dripping off his hat.

"It was okay," Dana shrugged.

His eyes widened. "'Okay'?" he repeated. "I battle to a full count and hit a grand slam, and you're calling it _okay_?" He picked her up.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Put me down!"

"Nope," he told her. "I guess the game wasn't very exciting for you," he said. "So..."

He brought her to just behind home plate, where a puddle of rainwater was starting to form. Then, Carter dropped Dana in the puddle. Mud splashed everywhere, mostly on her, but some on his shirt and shorts and sneakers too. " _That'll_ get the adrenaline pumping!" he told her with a grin.

Luckily, Zach Anderson and Ryan Mitchell had her back. Two seconds later, Carter was in the puddle with her.


	2. Diving In

**Disclaimer** **: I don't own the characters you recognize, they belong to Saban.**

 **Author's** **Note : These two are so cute. Chad's so shy, I love it. Here's how Chad met Rachel Simons, his girlfriend for most of "In a Heartbeat."**

* * *

The Mariner Bay AquaPark was packed on a stifling 90 degree day, and for good reason. The two PM aquatic show was all about Maestro, the thirty-foot long killer whale, and the chance of getting wet was one hundred percent. He was also Chad Lee's best flippered buddy. Chad found a seat in the wet zone, thankful he wore board shorts and a tanktop. He heard two kids chattering excitedly behind him about everything they'd seen that day-the pelicans, the penguins, the sea otters and the bright reef fish in the massive aquarium. He smiled, remembering how excited he'd been as a kid to come to the AquaPark to see the same things.

For as long as he could remember, Chad Lee had been obsessed with the water and everything in it. He supposed it was genetic-his father worked on a commercial fishing trawler that sailed up to Alaska and back. For the months when his father was at sea, Chad lived with his grandparents. His grandmother was a homebody, but Grandpa Lee would take his grandson almost every day after school to the AquaPark. Chad had taken swimming lessons very young and was SCUBA certified in high school. He'd even gotten a part-time job at the park feeding the fish and scrubbing windows of small sticky fingerprints. That had eventually led to him taking classes to learn to be a trainer. He'd started small with the sea otters, but then had felt confident enough to move up to Maestro, the park's star attraction. He'd been with Maestro almost a year before Dana Mitchell and two suits showed up on the splash pad to recruit him to be the Blue Lightspeed Ranger. Now that his Ranger days were over, Chad was working on the beach as a lifeguard, still saving people.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer called out over the PA system, and a hush fell over the crowd. Chad knew, at this point, Maestro was making his way from the larger aquarium tank to the arena. His trainer would be coaching him along with a toy. Not that Maestro needed it-Chad had gotten him to go from one to the other just by opening the access door after awhile. It had become ingrained in Maestro's system that at 1:58 PM, he needed to be in the other tank for a 2PM introduction. Sure enough, Chad's Doxa dive watch clicked to 2PM and a black dorsal fin sailed into the tank. "Meet Maestro!" The little kids cheered as Maestro made his lap around the tank, just feet from Chad in the third row. The whale flipped over on his back, exposing his white belly to the sunlight. Chad smiled. Maestro did love to show off just a little.

"And now," the announcer said, "let's meet Maestro's best human friend!" Chad felt a twinge of jealousy. That had used to be him.

Then Maestro's trainer came out of the side door, and all traces of jealousy (and conscious thought) left Chad.

"Say hello to Rachel Simons," the announcer continued. "Rachel is on loan to us from the San Diego Oceanographic Society, where she specialized in the study of orcas and dolphins."

Rachel Simons was beautiful. She was about five foot six with red hair pulled up into a ponytail and bright green eyes. She wore a black short-sleeved Speedo wetsuit with purple striping up and down the arms and legs. She waved with both hands and smiled at the crowd. Chad stared, entranced. He watched her walk over to the equipment shack and take out the headset mic. She fitted the earpiece and microphone and clipped the battery pack to her wetsuit. "Good afternoon everybody!" she said to the crowd. "Can you hear me okay?" There was a chorus of "Yeah!" from behind Chad. "Well, like he said, my name's Rachel and I'm originally from San Diego. I have my master's in Marine Biology, and this big guy you see in the tank is my absolute favorite ocean animal." She looked down at the whale. "Can you wave, Maestro?" she asked, waving one of her arms in a wide arc. The audience gasped as Maestro rolled onto his side and flipped his left flipper at them. "Maestro is a thirty-foot long, four ton killer whale, although 'whale' isn't exactly accurate." She grinned and winked at the crowd. "He's actually closer to a dolphin, but don't tell him that."

Chad could recite every fact along with her as she talked about Maestro. He could tell she was passionate about her job, and that Maestro was more to her than a big fish. She was fun to listen to, but even more exciting to watch as she put the mic pack away and slid into the water with him. The announcer took over as Rachel started showing off Maestro's skills-catching rings with his nose, playing catch with Rachel by using his head to bop a soccer ball back and forth with her. The show lasted about a half hour, and Chad watched as Rachel geared up for the final two big tricks. He watched her swim to the middle of the tank, and gesture Maestro to the opposite end of the tank. Then, she flicked her hand. Chad watched as Maestro did one lap around the tank and then jumped over the top of her as she threw both hands in the air, showering her with water, and soaking the first three rows as he landed in the tank again with a giant splash. The kids behind Chad went crazy.

Chad laughed at them, knowing that wasn't even the coolest trick. He watched as Rachel made her way to the middle of the tank again, and made an up and down motion with her arm. Maestro disappeared to the bottom of the tank, out of sight to most of the viewers except those in the very top row. The water was still. Then, a black and white blur exploded under Rachel's feet, as Maestro propelled her into the air by nudging her feet with his nose. It had been Chad's favorite trick, and he'd thrown in a flip or two with his martial arts training. He watched as Rachel gracefully arced back into the water to the applause of the audience. She swam over to the splash pad and hauled herself out of the pool, waving to everybody. She gestured to Maestro and the audience exploded in cheers. Chad was on his feet applauding.

After the show, Chad was chatting with Doreen, one of the park biologists, outside of the arena, catching up on life at the park. "You sure you don't wanna come back?" Doreen asked Chad. "We miss you here."

"Thanks," Chad replied. "I'm good though." He smiled. Just then, the side door opened and Rachel Simons came out, in a pair of jean shorts and a white t-shirt with the AquaPark's logo on it in bright teal, purple and green. She smiled and hefted a duffle over her shoulder. "Hey, Doreen," she greeted her, and then she turned to Chad. "Hi," she said, offering a hand. "I'm Rachel."

"I'm Chad." Chad managed to get out. She was even cuter up close!

"Chad used to have your job," Doreen told Rachel. "Til he traded in the wetsuit for a ranger suit instead," she said with a wink. Chad ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Sounds like a story," Rachel said. "I'd love to get some feedback from you on the show, since you used to do it. Are you free right now?" She smiled. "We could go grab a burger."

Doreen poked Chad in the arm and he blinked. "Sure," he said finally. "That-that'd be great."


	3. The Best Part

**Disclaimer** **: I don't own the characters-they belong to Saban.**

 **Author's Note** **: So I'm in a fluff 'n stuff mood 'cause of the holiday. Enjoy the byproduct of that! Carter and Dana's first Valentine's Day...**

* * *

 **The Best Part**

Elvis was surely shaking his hips somewhere in heaven as "Teddy Bear" played over the speakers at the Pink Cadillac. The place was packed, but then, it was a Friday night _and_ Valentine's Day to top it off. Carter Grayson drummed his fingers on the Formica table top as he and Dana Mitchell waited for their food. Dana was staring absently at the framed Chubby Checker record on the wall behind Carter's head, and Carter waved a hand in front of her face. "Quarter for your thoughts?" he said, and Dana blinked before smiling at him and leaning back in the booth.

"Quarter?" she teased. "Inflation's hit everything, I see."

"Just looked like there was more than a penny's worth going on in there," Carter said, pointing between her eyes. "What are you thinking about?"

She smiled. "I was just remembering Valentine's Day last year…do you remember?"

Carter frowned. "That was just after we became Rangers…right?"

Dana sighed. "Typical. Men are programmed to remember sports scores and steak sides," she told him.

"Hey, we weren't together then," Carter shrugged. "Therefore I have no need to remember it."

She shook her head. "Cute, Grayson, but that's no excuse." She leaned forward to be heard over the noise of Franki Valli. "Let me refresh your memory."

* * *

 _February 14_ _th_ _, 2000_

 _Lightspeed Aquabase, Mariner Bay, California_

Dana Mitchell's alarm clock went off precisely at 5:15 AM, but she'd been awake for a few minutes before that. She rolled out of bed and into the shower in one fluid movement-her pink blouse and gray slacks were hanging up already, her black heels tucked underneath them, ready for the day.

And, if truth be told, she hadn't really slept the night before. The past couple of days had been so intense that she wasn't sure if the adrenaline would ever wear off. Captain Bill Mitchell-her father- had selected her to be the Pink Power Ranger for the Lightspeed Rescue project. They'd morphed for the first time and used their powers and abilities just two days ago to defeat a demonic monster that was wreaking havoc in the city.

Today, the team was scheduled for a full day of training exercises. Dana was nervous. She was, after all, the youngest on the team at 18, and the daughter of the man in charge. They hadn't had much time to chat the day the demon attacked, and yesterday, her father had sent them all to grab their things to move into the Aquabase, so she hadn't seen any of them.

Her stuff was already here. She'd been living here since she'd graduated from high school. Yet another way she was different from her teammates.

* * *

At 7:00 AM she was in the mess hall grabbing breakfast. The chef had made cinnamon rolls and she could see them disappearing onto people's trays as they went down the line. She hoped there was one left-she could use the sugar. Closer…closer…her hand reached out for the tongs to grab the melty goodness…and closed on top of another hand.

She let go instantly. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized, and looked up into the gray eyes of her teammate, Carter Grayson, the newly-christened Red Ranger and leader of their team.

"You go ahead," he said graciously. "I'm already on my second cup of coffee, and if I eat that, I'll be more hyper than Kelsey," he told her, referring to their teammate in Yellow.

"No, you were there first, obviously," Dana protested. "I'll just grab something out of the vending machine down the hall before our meeting."

Carter shook his head. "I can see you're going to be a force to be reckoned with," he said. "I have an idea." He grabbed the roll off the tray and put it on his plate, already heaped with the industrial scrambled eggs and oatmeal. He beckoned for her to follow him over to the table he was sitting at in the corner, near one of the windows that looked out into the ocean depths. He unpackaged his plastic silverware and cut the roll in half. Then, he plunked half of it down on her plate. "Here," he told her.

"Carter, you really didn't-"

"Oh, sure, I did," he replied. "After all, we're gonna need to start working together, right?" He glanced across the room to where Joel Rawlings was sitting, flirting with one of the cafeteria workers. "Besides," he added. "We're both gonna need to be alert so we can poke Joel with a pencil if he starts to doze off."

Dana smiled, sticking a finger into the sticky white icing on the cinnamon roll and licking it off her fingers. Carter looked at her curiously. She blushed. "T-the icing is the best part," she said quickly. She stood up. "Um, I'm gonna go get some juice." She got up so fast she nearly upset her tray, and then took it with her across the room.

She didn't go back to sit with Carter…so she missed the way his gray eyes followed her across the room and to the table she'd chosen with a small smile.

* * *

"You know, you could've come back over to sit with me," Carter said.

"I felt so awkward after that whole thing that I was probably as red as your uniform," she told him honestly. "I woke up nervous that morning 'cause it was the first full day I'd have with you guys together and I wasn't sure what you'd think of me."

"What we'd 'think'?" Carter pressed and Dana nodded.

"Well, I mean, this random girl shows up in a limo with two suits, pulls you out of your day jobs and tells you that you've been selected to fight demons. And said random girl is the boss's daughter, who lives in this weird underwater base..." She shrugged. "I was nervous."

"You want to know what I thought?" Carter asked her. She nodded, waiting. "I thought that this pretty girl could've told me I'd been selected to be a clown at the circus and I'd have done it," he said. "And that all that cloak and dagger stuff made her mysterious."

Dana rolled her eyes, and he laughed. "But the best part was that even though she thought she was awkward...I thought she was funny, and smart, and kickass...and that I was excited to get to know her."

"Ever the charmer, Carter Grayson," Dana said, though secretly she was _very_ pleased.

"Also...you still lick the icing off first," Carter noted as he popped a fry into his mouth and watched Dana poke at her dessert-a big piece of chocolate cake.

"It's like I told you," Dana said. "That's the best part."

"Really?" Carter stretched a finger out, aiming for her dessert. Dana smacked it away with a grin.

"Mine," she told him, shaking a finger at him.

* * *

 **Author's Note II:** **The first episode of PRLR, "Operation Lightspeed" aired 12FEB2000. Your fun fact for the day.**


	4. Cookie Committments

**Author's Note:** **Angela Kirkpatrick PMd me the other day asking if I'd write some more for Chad and Rachel. Ask and ye shall receive!**

* * *

 **Cookie Committments**

 ** _From "In a Heartbeat"-_**

 _Dana looked at Rachel. "Do you like chocolate chip cookies?"_

 _Chad grinned. "She makes the best."_

 _"Chad," Rachel said, embarrassed._

 _"What?" he defended her. "It's true." He smiled and squeezed her shoulders._

* * *

"You look stressed," Chad Lee told Rachel Simons as she came out of the employee entrance to the AquaArena.

"Thanks," Rachel bit as she finger-brushed her red hair back out of her ponytail. Wet strands clung to her face and shoulders.

"Hey, hey," Chad gently grabbed her shoulders. "What's wrong?" he asked her. She'd been all smiles during the sea otter show, but now the spark had gone out of her eyes and she was very, very tense.

She looked at him. "Tomorrow is Valentine's Day," she told him.

He frowned. "Yeah….I know." He'd gotten her a single rose and a stuffed killer whale as proof of that statement. "So?"

Rachel sighed. "So the past couple of years I made cookies and packaged them and sent them to the senior center near my house in San Diego," she told him. "Well, this year, I get a voicemail from the gal who runs it saying how excited all the residents are for these cookies." She waved her arms around. "Except I'm four hundred miles away! I totally forgot to let them know I was moving, and now they're expecting these cookies tomorrow…" She leaned against the outside wall of the arean and slumped to the sidewalk. "I don't want to let them down," she said. "But there's no way it's going to happen this year."

Chad slid down the wall to sit next to her, tucking an arm around her waist. "How many cookies did you usually make?" he asked.

"About ten dozen," she said, and he whistled. "Yeah, I know. My friend Kayla and I would make them. We'd crank the music and start at like nine in the morning and just bake all day. Then we'd put about four on a plate so that every resident could have a few."

"No Kayla this year either?" Chad asked her, and Rachel shook her head, leaning against him. "No. Kayla's in the Navy, she's actually out on deployment." She sighed. "I guess I'll just have to call them back and let them know the bad news." She got up to go, but Chad grabbed her hand. She looked down at him. "What?"

He did some quick mental math. "Eight hours from here to San Diego," he said. "Traffic permitting. About what…twelve minutes for a sheet of cookies?" He grinned. "I have an idea."

* * *

Chad pulled up to a small home across the street from the beach. "Grandma?" he yelled as he started up the yard. He stopped, noticing that Rachel wasn't behind him. "Rach, come on," he said, gesturing to her.

"Your grandma's house? We're at your grandma's house?" Rachel asked, still in the front seat of the car.

"Yeah. Grandma and Grandpa raised me. I spend more time here than I do at my apartment," Chad admitted. "But you see, when you're in a bind, the first place you should go to his family, so...here we are!"

"What are we doing here?" Rachel asked as she tentatively joined him on the front lawn.

He grinned. "You'll see." His smile widened as his grandmother came around the side of the house with a set of gardening shears in her hand. Mina Lee was in her 80s but was as active as someone in their 40s. She had graying hair pulled back into a bun, and wore a pair of jeans and a blue and pink blouse. "Hi, Grandma," Chad said. "Rachel, this is my grandma, Mina Lee."

"Hi," Rachel said politely, still thoroughly confused.

"It's nice to meet you!" Mina's voice didn't waver or have any tremble in it. "You're the nice girl my Chad has been seeing, huh? It's nice to finally have a face to go with the stories!"

At the surprised look on Rachel's face, Chad said quickly, "All _good_ stories. Grandma, we have a situation," Chad said, and explained Rachel's commitment to the senior home. When he'd finished, it was beginning to dawn on Rachel exactly what was going to happen.

"Well then, child, we better get to baking!" Mina set down the shears on the porch step and opened the front door. "If we start now I'm sure we can get them finished in time for you to get them to San Diego!"

"Oh, but, Chad…" Rachel said. "This is-I mean, that's a lot of work."

"Work keeps me young!" Mina Lee laughed. She clasped Rachel's hand in her own. "Let's get a move on. If we run out of supplies we'll send Chad to the store for more, and then we can talk about him while he's gone!"

"Grandma!" Chad gasped. But he saw Rachel smiling, and he didn't mind so much. The three of them went into the kitchen. Rachel told Grandma Lee what she did for cookies, and they made a list of supplies for Chad to go out and get. A half hour later, the second batch was in the oven and Chad returned from the dollar store with several packs of Valentine's-themed paper plates. Rachel grabbed a cooling cookie off the counter and popped a gooey mess of cookie in Chad's mouth. "Thank you," she said happily, and kissed him. He tasted like vanilla and chocolate. "You have no idea how much this will mean to me-I mean, them. Well, and me."

"Chad, I'm low on brown sugar!" Grandma Lee called from behind them. "You go out and get some, and Rachel and I will get back to talking about how good you look in a wetsuit!"

"Grandma!" Chad yelled. He was sure his face was as red as the Valentine's Day plates.

It was going to be a _long_ drive down to San Diego…in more ways than one, he had a feeling.


	5. A Diamond in the Rough

**Disclaimer : Is not mine. Is Saban's.**

 **Author's Note:** **This one's been floating around in my head awhile. We all tend to think of Joel as the 'hot dog' and the Sky Cowboy, but there's much more to our favorite Green Ranger...**

* * *

Carter shaded his eyes as the yellow Piper SuperCub flipped 180 degrees, its' wheels facing straight up into the sky. After a moment, it rolled over a few times. Then, he watched as the pilot pulled back the yoke and brought the nose of the Piper completely vertical, and drove the plane skyward. For a moment, it hung there, as if God had it on an invisible string, and then the nose pitched forward- and straight _down_.

The propeller wasn't moving. The plane dove closer to the ground. Just when Carter thought for sure the Piper and its lone occupant were going to crash into the tarmac, the propeller spun to life, and the plane leveled out about fifty feet from the ground. It roared over Carter's head, practically close enough for him to touch the landing gear. It circled the airfield once, and then gently rolled and bopped to a landing across from him.

 _He may be a hot dog_ , Carter thought, _but man, can Joel fly._

Joel Rawlings hoisted one leg over the side of the Piper, reaching into the plane for a moment before retrieving his signature hat and plopping it at a rakish angle on his head. He spotted Carter and gave him a wave, before doing a quick post-flight check of the plane. Apparently deciding the plane would live to fly another day, he jogged across the runway. "So what'd you think?" he asked.

"What happened up there?" Carter asked, pointing straight up. "It looked like the plane died or something."

"Oh, _that_!" Joel grinned proudly. "It's called a stall, and the plane was working perfectly." He wrapped an arm around Carter's shoulders. "Speaking of perfect things…I'm glad you're here."

"Yeah, about that," Carter said as Joel led him over to Carter's truck. "What exactly am I doing here? Not that I didn't love the free air show…"

Joel's grin faded, and he looked at Carter from under the brim of his hat seriously. "I'm planning on proposing to Angela," he confessed.

Now it was Carter's turn to grin. "Dude, really?" he asked. Joel nodded, and Carter laughed. "That's awesome news, Joel. But…I still don't get what that has to do with me. Do you want me to film it or something?"

"No, man," Joel said as they hopped into Carter's truck. "I need help picking out the ring," he confessed.

Carter blinked in confusion. "Um," he began, "I'm not entirely sure how I'm qualified for that." He signaled and pulled out onto the main road. Joel took his hat off and tossed it on the dash.

"Well," Joel began, "you're a pretty straight-laced guy."

"Thanks," Carter muttered sarcastically.

"I mean, compared to me. You're…traditional. And I think Angela is too. You know? I mean, she's got that science background and she's smarter than me _and_ you put together-"

"You're really not winning points here, man," Carter objected.

Joel dismissed him with a brush of his hand. "You know what I mean. I don't think she's the type that's going to want this giant green rock on her hand. Which is what I'd have picked for her."

"Uh…huh. So you want me to come along to reign you in, is that it?" Carter asked him.

Joel grinned. "See? I knew you'd understand. Let's start with D'Arcy."

Carter almost slammed his foot on the brake. "Did Captain Mitchell pay you some kind of bonus I don't know about?" he asked incredulously. "You won't find anything in there that's less than three grand a pop!"

Joel shrugged. "This is also why I have you along. Also…" he winked. " _How_ exactly do you know what rings cost, my friend?"

Carter kept his eyes on the highway as he turned to go into town. "I may or may not have been thinking of some ideas for Dana," he confessed. "We're nowhere near ready for that," he said. "I just wanted to have some ideas in the back of my mind, just in case it ever felt right."

"You guys are like, cavity sweet," Joel told him. "I figured you guys would get hitched before Angela and I. Well…" He grinned. "Maybe not."

"Yeah, you don't like to move slow," Carter told him.

Joel nodded. "Never have," he said. "Even when I was younger. Gramps was retired Air Force, he used to take me up on base to see the flightline all the time," he told Carter. He shook his head, remembering. "Half the time he couldn't get me to go home. I was glued to the sky. When I'm up there," he pointed, "I feel like Grandpa's still watching, you know?" He let his hand fall to rest on the arm rest. "He and Grandma had their hands full with me, man, you have no idea."

"Really? I have no idea?" Carter teased. "Dropping head shots from the Aerial Rescue?"

Joel laughed, remembering. "Fair enough, fair enough," he agreed. "Hey, how about we go there?" he said, pointing to a little place just off the main drag.

Carter looked quickly, then nodded. "Yeah, that's a good place to start." He pulled his truck into one of the downtown parking lots. Joel forked over the parking fee for an hour, and they stepped out into the afternoon sun. Joel pulled his hat low over his eyes and Carter locked the truck. Then, the two of them crossed the street to a small brick store. The window display was a beach scene, and sitting on small platforms above the waves and on tops of palm trees were several pieces of jewelry with varying stones.

"Interesting choice," Joel said, motioning to the display.

Carter nodded. "Yeah, that's what I like. They're not stuffy like some of those places you go." He pointed to the name etched in script on the glass. "Rings Afire," he said. "Wait 'til you see the stuff inside," he added, and with that, pushed past Joel and opened the door. A bell dinged, announcing their presence.

It was exactly as advertised. The Man in Black was playing over the speakers ("Folsom Prison Blues"), and situated around the room in circular cases were some of the most dazzling pieces of jewelry that Joel had ever seen. Bright white light flooded the cases, making everything in them sparkle like crazy.

"Wow," Joel managed, looking around.

"Another satisfied customer," a voice said, and the two men turned to see a short, balding man wearing a black polo and blue jeans coming out of the back. He was wearing a pair of glasses that unclipped at his nose, then came together on a chain that let them rest on his chest. "'Wow' usually means I've done my job," he said at Joel's confused look. "My name is Andrew Warren, I own the place."

"Mr. Warren," Carter said. "Nice to see you again."

"You too, Mr. Grayson. You here to finally buy one?"

Carter felt his ears tinge pink. "Uh, no." He jerked a thumb at Joel. "I'm actually here to help him pick out one."

Mr. Warren gave Joel a once-over, then turned to Carter. "I see why he needs help," he winked.

"I like this guy already," Joel told Carter, and Carter laughed.

"I knew you would."

"So, Mr…."

"Rawlings," Joel supplied, shaking Mr. Warren's hand.

"Mr. Rawlings. Tell me about your bride to be." Mr. Warren leaned back against one of the display cases and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.

Joel looked sideways at Carter. "Angela," he said after a moment. "Her name is Angela. She uh, we worked together. Um, brown hair, brown eyes-"

"I'm not going to sketch her, Mr. Rawlings, I'm going to give her a ring," Mr. Warren cut in. "Work with me here."

Carter was enjoying this. He'd never seen Joel so nervous before. It was a whole other side to the flamboyant Sky Cowboy.

Joel took his hat off and ran a hand over his head. "She's beautiful," he confessed. "Like, Miss America beautiful. Even with the glasses and the lab coat. She's crazy smart, she's got a degree in like mechanical engineering or something like that."

There was a pause, and then Joel said, almost in a whisper, "And I have no idea why she likes me."

 _Oh._ Carter frowned. This was unexpected. Joel was always so confident in everything, to see him so unsure of himself in this moment…it was unsettling.

Mr. Warren leaned forward. "What do you do for a living, Mr. Rawlings?" he asked.

"I fly," Joel replied. "Um, I've got a Piper SuperCub. I do air shows, mostly."

"You like to show off a little? That's a beautiful aircraft," Mr. Warren complimented him.

"A little. Okay, a lot," Joel amended.

"I'd say you and this Angela are perfect for each other," Mr. Warren said, pushing off the display case, and wandering while he spoke.

"How do you know?" Joel asked. "You've never met her and you hardly know me."

"You've told me all I need to know," Mr. Warren responded, flipping the latch open on one of the cases. "She's smart and likes to work with her hands. With a degree like she's got, she pays attention to the small details and the fine tuning. You like wide open space and freedom to improvise." He reached into the case and plucked out a ring. He held it up so Joel could see it. "She keeps you grounded, and you give her freedom to fly," he finished.

Joel studied the ring. It was a simple white-gold band, with a small princess-cut diamond. Two much smaller diamonds glinted beside it on either side. "This is perfect," he breathed. He looked at Mr. Warren. "How-"

"No, no. Can't reveal all my secrets," he winked. "Where would be the fun in that?"


	6. A Red Christmas

The sound of a wail jolted Carter Grayson from a dead sleep. His eyes snapped open and he rolled over to look at the clock beside the bed. Red numbers blinked back at him- 4:34 AM. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Next to him, Dana shifted in her sleep. "I've got him," she mumbled into the pillow.

Carter yawned. "No, my turn," he said. He swung his big frame out of bed and padded across the hall. Eighteen-month-old Troy was lying on his back in the crib, fists clenched, eyes squeezed shut in tears. "Hey, buddy," Carter whispered, reaching over the sides and picking him up. Troy squirmed and whimpered until he found a comfortable spot against his father's muscular chest. Carter patted him on the back. "Couldn't give Mommy and Daddy a few more hours, huh?" he asked his son. He looked outside. The sun wasn't even a thought. The Christmas lights that wound around the eaves of the house made the front yard glow red in the darkness. "Come on," he said.

He shifted Troy to the other shoulder and went into the living room, where the Christmas tree lights washed the room with a white glow. "Look, Troy," Carter gasped dramatically, "Santa ate the cookies!" He held Troy over the empty plate. His son wiggled at the word Santa and looked down. "Where'd the cookies go?" Carter asked Troy. Troy gave him a gap-toothed smile. "Santa's definitely been here," he continued. "Look at what else I see." He carefully sat down and held Troy in his lap and pulled out a wrapped box from under the tree. "Think Mommy will mind if we open one without her?" he asked. His son bounced in his lap, grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, let's go ahead," he said. "We'll save ones Santa got you," he decided. He found a box that was labeled FROM GRANDPA BILL and tugged it out from under the tree. He handed it to Troy and popped open one flap of wrapping paper so Troy could get a grip on it. He held the box as his son awkwardly tore at the wrapping, bouncing all the while. He knew Dana had gone shopping with her father and brother while Carter worked an overnight with the Arson Squad, so he didn't know what it was. It took a few minutes but Troy finally managed to tear the paper enough for Carter to help pull it the rest of the way off.

"Seriously?" Carter snorted as his son grasped the edges of a plastic box with an action figure inside. The action figure was _him_ , in his red Lightspeed Rescue ranger uniform.

"You just couldn't wait, huh?" Dana's sleepy voice said from the doorway. She was leaning against it in her purple pajama pants and tank top. She pushed off the door frame and sat down next to them on the floor.

Carter shrugged. "Hey, I got him to stop crying, didn't I?" he countered. "A Power Ranger action figure?" he asked his wife. "Seriously?" He held up his son's hands. Troy had a firm grip on the sides of the packaging and was still bouncing excitedly.

"It was Dad's idea," Dana told him. "It started out just you, to be funny, but then it sort of evolved. He's got the whole set of us under the tree."

Carter set Troy on the floor. Their son sat upright and bounced enthusiastically in his red footie pajamas, shaking the figurine in his hands. "Da," he was saying, "Da da da."

Carter raised an eyebrow. "You think he knows?" he teased Dana.

Dana laughed. "Not yet," she told him. "But someday. Someday he'll get to hear all about his famous family."

Carter picked up Troy under the arms and plopped him in his mother's lap."And then he'll never hear the end of it!" He looked under the tree. "We _did_ get him more than just Power Ranger stuff for Christmas, right?"

"Joel got him a Sky Cowboy hat to match his cousin Anton's," Dana replied. "I tried to talk him out of it."

"That'd be a Christmas miracle," Carter muttered.

"But um….just from what I know of what the others got him…" Dana bit her lip. "It's probably going to be more of a _red_ Christmas than a blue one around here."

"He's going to hate the color red when he gets older," Carter shook his head. "Maybe he'll outgrow it like Mommy outgrew pink." He blew raspberries on Troy's stomach and his son kicked out, narrowly missing his nose.

"Let's hope so," Dana greed. "Because his Daddy's got more red than Santa Claus in _his_ closet!" she said while tickling Troy behind the ear. Troy squeezed his head close to his shoulder to try to get her to stop.

"Wed," Troy announced. "Wed wed wed wed."

Dana raised an eyebrow. "Red?" she clarified, looking over the top of her son's head at her husband. "Seriously? That's what he's going with for first word choice?" She sighed. "I was hoping for 'Mama.'"

"Now _that'd_ be a Christmas miracle," Carter countered, and Dana smacked him in the arm.


	7. Firefall

**Disclaimer** **: I don't own them, they belong to Saban.**

 **Author's Note:** The "Firefall" is a real phenom. Just Google Horsetail Fall firefall. However, as to whether or not you can camp in Yosemite in February to watch it, I don't know. I promise I've not forgotten about "Legacy" or "Rise of a Royal Ranger"; real life isn't allowing much time to write lately. :(

* * *

Everything was sore. Ryan Mitchell closed his eyes and settled into the camp chair, pulling his silver hoodie hood over his head. He propped his feet up on the picnic table and let the feeling of the campfire wash over his body. Kelsey had dragged him to Yosemite National Park in preparation for her climb of Half Dome later that summer. There was no climbing anything in the park in the winter, but Kelsey and her two partners (her two _male_ climbing partners, much to Ryan's semi-disappointment) wanted to come witness one of the greatest natural spectacles ever ahead of their climb.

He was a little worried. Only four months earlier, Kelsey had broken two bones in a climbing fall outside Mariner Bay, and though she swore up and down that she was perfectly fine and in top shape, the idea of her climbing three thousand vertical feet-even on a well-traveled route-made him extremely nervous.

"Ryan!" Kelsey's urgent tone snapped him awake. His foot slipped off the edge of the picnic table and he yelped as it hit the side of the fire ring, thankfully missing any flames. He looked up at her. Kelsey was standing-no, practically hopping back and forth from foot to foot-above him. She reached out a hand. "Come on, come on, come on!" she said. "We're gonna miss it!"

Ryan let himself be pulled out of the chair, amused at her urgency. "Kels, settle down," he told her. "We'll get there."

"Chris and David are already there," Kelsey said. "They picked out a spot at the picnic area for us." She was breathless from excitement as they made their way down the trail to the El Capitan picnic area. "Chris brought his camera-he should get some awesome shots." She looked up at the sky. "I hope those clouds stay away just a little longer." Ryan struggled to keep up with her as she pulled him along. "I hope we get to see it," she continued. She looked back at him, her face alight. "Bet you never saw anything like _this_ in the Shadow World," she added.

Ryan snorted. "Um, seeing as how there was zero light in the _Shadow_ World," he pointed out, "no, not really."

He loved how she had personally taken it upon herself to have him experience every single thing he'd not been able to experience. They'd gone to Disneyland on a whim one weekend while she was recovering from her fall-and she got to skip the line a little by playing up her broken leg. She'd taken him to Las Vegas and he'd marveled at the Strip with all the lights and the fountains. It was like she wanted him to experience every bright and happy thing she could cram in.

And he loved her for it.

The two of them skidded to a stop in the picnic area, and Kelsey threaded her way through two news crews and a smattering of amateur and professional photographers until she found her climbing partners. Chris and David were sitting on a picnic table, Chris setting up his tripod with his Nikon atop it. "Hey, Winslow, glad you could make it," he teased as he looked up. "Hey, Ryan."

"Hey guys. Did we miss it?" He still wasn't sure what 'it' is.

David shook his head. "Nope," he said. He pointed. "Sun's not down far enough yet."

Ryan frowned. "The sun's gotta go _down_ for something to light _up_?"

"You'll see," Kelsey enthused. She threaded her arm through his and they stood, waiting.

Then, it happened, and Ryan's eyes went wide.

Horsetail Fall tumbled down the east side of El Capitan, and with a wet winter in the higher altitudes, was flowing quite freely. But instead of water…Horsetail Fall was on _fire._ Orange light undulated down the side of El Capitan, setting the side of the mountain aglow with a blaze of orange and yellow. Ryan could hear Chris's shutter snapping away. David provided narration. "See, the sun hits the water just right, and-"

"Firefall," Ryan whispered, watching the river of fiery light roll down the side of the mountain. He looked down at Kelsey. "This is _so_ awesome!" He hugged her close. "Thank you."

"I knew you'd like it," she replied.

"You're right," he whispered after a moment, listening to Chris's shutter and the wind in the trees. She looked up at him and he caught her lips in a kiss. "There was _nothing_ like this in the Shadow World."

She shook her head. "I meant the firefall," she replied pointedly.

Ryan grinned. "Oh, I know," he told her.


End file.
